Airbus

Manned electric-powered aircraft have made record-breaking flights and turned more than a few heads in the past few years, and it's not a trend that's likely to slow down. Last week, the E-Fan electric trainer airplane developed by the Airbus Group made its first public flight before a collection of French dignitaries. Currently a demonstrator for electric aircraft technology, Airbus says that is will be used as the basis for building a new pair of electric training aircraft models. Read More

Aeronautics giant Airbus has completed its project to recreate the surface of Mars in Stevenage, UK. The site, roughly the size of a basketball arena, is designed to test the navigation and locomotion systems of the ESA's ExoMars rover ahead of its launch in 2018. Read More

There was a surprise appearance at the Paris Air Show on Friday as the first prototype Airbus A350 XWB airliner did a flypast of the crowds at Le Bourget Airport. The flypast was part of what was the aircraft’s third time in the air and was a last minute bonus appearance due to it performing much better than expected on its previous two test flights. Read More

The 50th edition of the Paris Air Show kicked off with a bang on Monday, but rather than the rumbling of huge jet engines the din came courtesy of thunderstorms and torrential rain. Thankfully the dark skies cleared quickly and despite more bursts of wet weather throughout the week, there has been plenty of blue sky to provide a backdrop for the daily aerial displays. Here's a our look at the highlights from Le Bourget airfield, both on the ground and in the air. Read More

EADS has once again taken to the Paris Air Show to present a vision of commercial aviation in 2050. Developed in partnership with Rolls-Royce to increase the efficiency of future airliners, its E-Thrust concept is a hybrid electric propulsion system that EADS says could cut fuel consumption, emissions and noise. EADS and Airbus have baked the E-Thrust into an aircraft design, which EADS calls the eConcept. Read More

Seven years after plans for the Airbus A350 XWB were first revealed at the Farnborough Air Show in 2006, the aircraft took to the air for the first time on June 14. The maiden flight saw the aircraft in the skies of southwestern France for four hours and five minutes before returning to Toulouse-Blagnac Airport. Read More

If you want to launch a satellite in the usual way – on top of a rocket – it will typically cost you at least US$50,000,000. Newly-inaugurated aerospace firm Swiss
Space Systems (S3), however, claims that it will be able to put your small satellite into orbit for about 10.6 million bucks. Why so cheap? S3 is planning on flying satellites into space, using an airliner and an unmanned shuttle. Read More

A new report drafted by Airbus as part of its “Smarter Skies” initiative sees the aircraft manufacturing company looking toward 2050 and beyond, in order to consider what can be done to meet the expected growth in future air travel sustainably. The ambitious plans put forward include assisted take-off, free-glide landings, and aircraft flying in formation. Read More

Three of the world’s biggest aircraft manufacturers have set aside their differences in an effort to accelerate the development of biofuel for commercial aviation. In a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed this week, Boeing, Airbus and Embraer say they have agreed to work together on the development of drop-in, affordable aviation biofuels that will help the aviation industry reduce its carbon footprint. Read More